At least 12 Maoists, including a top leader Hari Bhushan, were shot dead in an encounter near the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border on Thursday.

A commando from the anti-Maoist Greyhound team was also killed in the gunfight.

The encounter broke out when a joint team of from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh and Maharashtra were conducting combing operations. Three other security personnel were also injured in the encounter.

According to the police, a top Maoist leader Haribhushan alias Jagan was among those killed in the gunfight. Last month, four suspected Maoists were killed in a firefight with security forces in Jharkhand.